Greens’ bloc party stifles liberty

I would like to congratulate Laura Tingle (“New or old, it’s a precarious paradigm", June 24) for pointing out the Greens party has rules that prohibit any member “crossing the floor". This is an issue that deserves wider ventilation.

Only one Greens member needs to come into the chamber because they almost always vote as a bloc. The Greens in the Senate have only ever split once, and that was in 2002 on the Research Involving Embryos Bill.

By contrast, Nationals members or senators have crossed the floor on 34 votes since July 2005 and not just on conscience votes, but on issues such as managed investment schemes, wheat marketing and the treatment of
David Hicks
.

In the Nationals we believe in the liberty of the individual to express their view. Political automatism is always the badge of nasty outcomes.